


The mortifying ordeal of being known

by oswinosgoodsscarf



Category: Beetlejuice - All Media Types, Beetlejuice - Perfect/Brown & King
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Beetlejuice's emotional issues and abandonment issues, Multi, Pining, Self-Esteem Issues, i guess?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:22:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24863767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oswinosgoodsscarf/pseuds/oswinosgoodsscarf
Summary: The first time the Maitlands told Beetlejuice that they loved him, he laughed and waited for the punch line.OR: How Beetlejuice stopped denying his feelings and the Maitlands have the collective patience of a saint.
Relationships: Beetlejuice/Adam Maitland/Barbara Maitland
Comments: 21
Kudos: 119





	The mortifying ordeal of being known

**Author's Note:**

> I did not come up with this idea alone, shoutout to my buddies on Discord :D

The first time the Maitlands told Beetlejuice that they loved him, he laughed and waited for the punch line.

( _His mothers' voice still rang in his ear and his chest still ached and the only time people touched him was when they were wanted something from him and he thought they were different, sweet and soft in ways that the Netherworld wasn’t, he had never dealt with before and he wondered what they wanted that necessitated something so cruel._ ) When they only doubled down (" _Really, Beetlejuice, we love you_ ", all squeezing his hands and rubbing his shoulders and “ _We want to be with you_ ” and " _It’s OK if you don’t believe us, we can wait for you, we'll just have to tell you that we love you until you believe us_ “) he ran out of the room and onto the roof to sulk and maybe cry, hoping that they would drop the act soon because all he wanted was them; and hearing the two of them taunting him with sweet promises might actually be the thing that would break him.

* * *

The next time they said it, it still sounded like a joke; the apparent sincerity shining from their faces at war with the impossibility of their words, the light from the TV flickering over their entwined hands ( _one hand each reaching out, ready to hold the demon, steady and strong_ ) and their hopeful eyes and soft figures and Beetlejuice bit back the words heavy on his tongue ( _what do you want what did I do why this please I can’t take this_ ) and resigned himself to waiting the couple out, until they got to the point and bracing for the agonizing bliss in store for him in the meantime.

* * *

Adam and Barbara continued to say it, and the backstabbing (metaphorical or literal) continued to not happen. Slowly, Beetlejuice slowly started to relax around them again. A tiny, hopeful voice inside of him cheered at every new declaration that didn’t turn sour, but he did his best to squash the hope that was determined to take root in his bones, still wary and uncertain.

* * *

They didn’t always say it together; sometimes Barbara would say it after Beetlejuice took care of the slugs in her garden, other times it was Adam after Beetlejuice tried to crack a "normal" (i.e. family friendly and not death-related) joke. And every time they said it over the ensuing months, the phrase chipped more and more at Beetlejuice's resolve, cracking him open ever further. He tried holding himself aloof, tried pretending that every brush of their hands against his body and every hint of praise directed at him didn't make him feel like his chest was about to burst from containing all the love it contained; warm and gooey and disgustingly vanilla feelings... but every time they said they loved him, Beetlejuice started believing them more.

* * *

Ever so slowly, he started returning the sentiment.

Not with words (not yet, the words still felt too big and too scary and too _much_ ), but in the way he interacted with them; his movements may have looked as manic as ever, but whenever Beetlejuice touched them, handed them something, moved around them, it was with a care he usually only extended toward Lydia. He listened to their nerdy boring gushing about wallpaper, carefully told them about his weak spots and past. When they reached for him, he stopped flinching back, when they asked for his time, he gave it. It sometimes meant giving up hours of bug-catching or wandering to help Adam with his model town or helping Barbara reorganize the attic, but the way the couple made him feel made up for it. Beetlejuice found himself running away less, being more vulnerable around the pair, His edges blurred, entwining with theirs as he slowly moved closer into Adam and Barbara’s orbit.

* * *

He started thinking about saying it, how the words would feel on his lips and their expressions when the words would reach their ears, the way they would smile at him (maybe say they were proud for being so honest with them, maybe kiss him senseless, maybe hold him like he was worth cherishing)... but he could never get the words out. Either the timing wasn't right or there wasn't enough privacy or he briefly panicked and imagined the worst ( _Sneers_ and _punches_ and _leaving him alone again, only able to watch happiness instead of feeling it_ and overall very un-Maitland-y shit). Those were the times where he fell back onto old habits and ran away, only to beat himself up over it afterwards.

Beetlejuice found out that he could say I love you in a million different ways and he systematically built his way up to the actual words; simple gestures giving way to more thought-out deeds, conversations both personal and sincerely flirty becoming more commonplace, casually affectionate praise being offered more readily; as the feelings grew (and more importantly, the more secure and stable he felt with those emotions and their potential) he gradually began telling them his feelings in everything he did.

* * *

When he finally told the Maitlands that he loved them back, it was a completely normal day. Beetlejuice had been watching Adam and Barbara giggle in the kitchen over a half-finished pie when he felt the words bubbling out. As Barbara turned to him, spatula in hand, he felt something in him soften, letting the words finally fly off his tongue.

"I-I love you. Both of you."

For a moment, everything froze and he panicked, half formed plans to run, ( _leave the house and pick up the ground-up shards of his heart before anyone could notice and find somewhere else to stay where he might be lonely but would definitely be safe_ ) darting through his mind before Adam and Barbara sprung into action, and Beetlejuice found himself with two armfuls of happy nerds, and then there was kissing and hugging and fingers in his hair and giggles ringing in his ear and the awful voices of his mother and his exes and the ugly, hateful voice in his head that cheered when he crashed were silent, drowned out by the bliss of being held and being loved and loving in return.

**Author's Note:**

> I hoped you enjoyed this fic! It's my first work in this fandom so I'm kind of nervous. If you liked it, please feel free to leave kudos and/or comments!


End file.
